Students who participated in the 2018 regional World Robot Olympiad competition in Long Beach give each other a high-five after putting together a robot. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The Long Beach-Qingdao Association will be recognized for an innovative program that helps foster understanding between Chinese and American youth, during the 4th US-China Mayors' Summit in Houston, Texas.

"We are thrilled that sister city is recognizing the creativity of this project, because it's certainly innovative," said Dr. Mary E. Barton, president of the Long Beach-Qingdao Association. "We are supporting both Chinese and American students to work together, which we think is really important, and both of them being on the leading edge of technology with doing robotics and LEGO, that just makes it a perfect way to cooperate with something the kids love and they will need when they grow up."

The Innovation: Youth & Education Award will be presented to members of the organization, during an award ceremony at the annual Sister Cities International conference on July 18.

The award recognizes a scholarship program that the organization provides to local Long Beach students who are interested in learning about how to program robots made mostly out of LEGOs, Barton said.

These students will be joined by around 30 students from China, Barton said. They will then be separated into teams that include both American and Chinese students and work together under the guidance of coaches before competing in the regional World Robot Olympiad on Aug 3.

"It's a very good experience for young children to learn those tasks in a cross-cultural environment; it will be very good for them when they grow up," Barton said.

The Long Beach-Qingdao Association was formed in 1985 after Long Beach city leaders took a trip to Qingdao and realized that the two cities had much in common.

Phyllis Venable, president of the Sister Cities of Long Beach, Inc., which is an umbrella organization formed by the city council in 1996 to serve as the parent organization for all sister cities of Long Beach, said Long Beach looks for sister cities that share similar characteristics.

"I am sure the trading has a lot to do with it, because we have a very active port, which is similar to Qingdao," Venable said.

In able to further Americans' understanding of Chinese businesses and culture, the Long Beach-Qingdao Association organizes Chinese New Year celebrations and also hosts annual luncheons that focus on economic opportunities and business relationships with China.

One of the proudest moments for Barton was when the organization supplied a garden design, which was then put together by Qingdao landscaping workers and put on display during the 2014 Qingdao International Horticultural Exposition.

The organization is also recruiting Southern California businesses to participate in the Qingdao international friendship city imports exhibition, which will take place in October, Barton said.

"We are being citizen diplomats amongst ourselves," she said.